102 - View From The Top

Connection To JUST LIKE HEAVEN - Mark Ruffalo 

For me this movie failed to take off...

Ha ha ha... you see what I did there, because it's about flight attendants. Sadly this lame joke of mine that I couldn't resist is really about the quality of the movie.

I struggled through this because as a comedy it's never funny, you can blame 9/11 all you want (the film was made in 2001 but limped out in 2003 because of those attacks) but it would have just flopped in 2001 in my opinion if the release that year went to plan.

Where do I start, because there really isn't much to talk about - it was not a film I really cared for, Gwyneth Paltrow is an actress I've never really loved (she's done decent work in fairness) and Mike Myers smaller supporting role is hilarious - no wait it's not funny in the slightest.

I really wasn't a fan of the colour scheme of this movie, it felt ugly to look at especially in the costume design - I guess they was trying to go for retro looks (a lot of it's look's 70's - bad 70's) but it just didn't go for me. The last half hour I just wanted to end because the film was really dragging towards it's finish line.

Overall, there is nothing that stands out - well in a good way - there is much better films to spend your time watching, if you own it on DVD and haven't watched it yet, just leave it on the shelf or give it away there is nothing here to see. (so yeah a short write up for the film, doesn't deserve more words).

94 - Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Connection To THE OTHER GUYS - Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.

Sequels that come out along time after the original, there's always a fear isn't there - if you are a fan of the original, the positives of that film have spent years building up in your mind. I think comedy in-particular might just have the hardest time, the upcoming sequel to Dumb & Dumber as been long-waited and the original is much loved and it's been 20 years (which feels unbelievable I remember going to the cinema twice to see it). Anchorman 2 didn't take quite as long though with 9 years, but it's fair to say it's popularity built up over the next few years after it, so yeah it's got a lot to live up to.

To be honest, the best way to perhaps describe it is as a slightly inferior copy of the original, though the story is different, the elements of the original are certainly there - a rival newscaster, even Veronica and Ron's relationship is somewhat reset to the antagonist elements of the first, there's also the newscaster fight (which is bigger with so many surprise cameos, none of them I will list to not give away the surprises) and thankfully Brick is still... well as Brick as you want him to be.

So I did enjoy it... an important element for me at least of a comedy film is that it needs to be funny and it's funny, and it's probably the callbacks to the first movie that perhaps yield the funniest moments - James Marsden echoing Vince Vaughn from the first movie - funny. Brick being Brick - funny... this time he has a love interest in Kristen Wiig... the newscaster war - funny, among other things, but it feels there is slightly less plot going on here then the first time around and it's a film that doesn't have the same quotability factor (I Love Lamp, whales vagina etc.) but maybe time will tell on that front.

I think the returning characters valubility stayed the same for me - Brick is still the MVP, while others just get to be in his shadow but still have their moments. Of new characters not mentioned Meagan Good is a decent new foil/love interest for Burgundy while Harrison Ford honestly doesn't make that much impact.

Overall, yeah a sequel of diminishing returns but there is still enough funny in here to make it worth a watch, if you didn't like the first one don't bother with this but if you did you'll be suitably entertained.